Spectroscopic investigation of thallium 6s6p2 configuration at electron-atom collisions: I. Spectra

Thallium emission spectra in the 115–300 nm range excited by electron-atom collisions at electron energies of 12–300 eV are investigated. A number of weak lines that cannot be unidentified using spectroscopic tables are found in the 140–170 nm range. Two of them (144.9 and 148.0 nm) are attributed to the radiative decay of levels that belong to the 6s6p ² configuration and that lie above the ionization potential. A weak emission with an excitation threshold of about 9 eV is revealed in the vicinity of the Tl II resonance line at 132.2 nm. The excitation function of the emission is measured for electron energies below 15.5 eV. It is found that the emission consists of two lines, which also appear due to the excitation of the 6s6p ² configuration and correspond to the radiative decay of levels that are common with the lines at 144.9 and 148.0 nm mentioned above. Their calculated wavelengths are 130.2 and 132.7 nm, respectively.